Joy and Fear: An Unexpected Connection

CHAPTER 10

JOY'S POV

After Riley fell asleep, the headquarters shut down for the night. Before Fear could retreat to his room, I snatched him by the back of his collar, scaring him out of his skin. "Could you keep Dream Duty with me?"  I asked. Fear nodded and followed me back into the main room.

It had been a few weeks since our crazy adventure, and Fear hadn't really said anything about it. I would mention it to him every once in awhile to joke around, but all I got was an eye-roll, a yelp/chatter, or a slight grin. Not much on words. It only made it more awkward between us and the rest of the emotions.

For a moment, we watched the dream on the giant front screen in silence. I wasn't really paying attention though; I glanced every so often for a split second and immediately jerked my head back to the screen whenever Fear would gaze over. I sighed after an hour of silence, causing Fear to copy. Then, meeting eye contact, we burst out laughing.

In fact, I laughed so hard, I ended up rolling out of my chair and knocking Fear out of his. He crashed to the floor with me landing on top of him. Both of us let out one more laugh before continuing to smile and gaze into each other's eyes. I lowered myself flat on Fear's body, closer to his face, and pressed my lips against his. I deepened the kiss as Fear's hand carressed my cheek and cupped the back of my neck. His other arm coiled around my torso as he lifted his upper body off the ground; I still kneeled down in his lap with my palms on his jaw-line.

As we released our moment, a small red spark glowed in between our hearts. It hovered away a few feet and Fear and I stared in astonishment. The glowing dot of light expanded and shaped out a feminine figure and then thinned out to where a girl stood in its place.

Her skin was a rose red and wore a darker red dress with shiny gold swirls on it. Her dark red hair was bobbed at her ears with a cute gold bow on the left side of her head. Her eyes were a pretty shade of sea-green and her white smile was perfect.

"Who are you?" I asked, holding Fear's hand. The girl's smile grew.

"I am Joy and Fear combined. I am Love."

Fear covered his mouth and held his breath. My eyes widened. "Are you serious? Another emotion?" Love smiled at our astonished expressions. "I am pleased to meet to you two; I'm guessing Joy and Fear, right?" Fear and I nodded, and we both shook her hand.

"We'll have to introduce you to the rest of the emotions!" I exclaimed and Fear agreed by giving me a big hug. Then, both Fear and I tackled Love in a group hug and ended laughing on the floor.

Anger, Disgust, and Sadness came hurdling down the stairs when they awoke from all the noise and were both shocked and excited to see a new emotion in Headquarters.

From then on, Riley's life became more interesting, more joyful, more exciting, and importantly...

More Loving.